Exhilarating, right? But that’s the trouble. My life isn’t that simple. I’ve got friends, family, a puppy, a job and a life. I’m finding it fairly easy to balance it a vast majority of the time, but there are days that I just want to join in on everyone else’s fun. Those are the days that make this difficult.

I’m trying to remind myself to write on the days I feel strongest or most empowered, but with all of the Mardi Gras balls and festivities surrounding, I can only think of the events I’ll be missing or sitting on the sidelines.

It will be worth it.

Saturday nights. I’m exhausted from a week of balancing cardio, meals and my responsibilities. I want to let loose at work and have a few drinks at the back bar. Everyone is toasting and our hectic bartending is only relieved by the brief moments we come together for a shot. I can’t participate. Everyone raises a glass and I continue working. Sunday, everyone goes to eat pizza or BBQ or they search for crawfish, and I’m on my couch watching television or stuck on an elliptical.

And then I’m just complaining again. And I feel guilty. And I feel silly and gluttonous.

84 days. I’ve made too much progress to quit again this year. I won’t quit…